Facts

Parties: Appellant X. against the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Zurich

Courts: District Court of Zurich, Higher Court of the Canton of Zurich, Federal Supreme Court

Period: Late February 2010 to early March 2011 (time of offense), February 27, 2014 (first-instance judgment), April 9, 2015 (Federal Supreme Court decision)

Facts:

  • X. was involved in the storage and transport of approximately 6.4 CartA of cocaine mixture and about 75 CartA of cutting agents.
  • The District Court of Zurich sentenced X. to a term of imprisonment of four years for multiple qualified offenses under the Narcotics Act (NarcA).
  • The Higher Court of the Canton of Zurich reduced the sentence to three years and nine months and acquitted X. of the charges of meeting in connection with cutting agents.
  • X. filed an appeal in criminal matters and requested a partially suspended term of imprisonment of three years with suspension of execution for a period of 18 months.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court emphasizes the importance of the duty to state reasons of the appellate court pursuant to Art. 112 para. 1 lit. b FSCA and Art. 82 para. 4 CrimPC. A decision must clearly state the facts established and the legal considerations made by the court. The reasoning serves to inform the parties of the decisive circumstances so that they can review the decision and, if necessary, challenge it.

The Federal Supreme Court notes that the lower court (Higher Court) in its judgment made unclear references to the first-instance judgment, which led to misunderstandings and contradictions. The lower court did not comprehensively address the first-instance considerations but merely referred to them in part. This does not meet the requirements for a comprehensible and reviewable reasoning.

The Federal Supreme Court emphasizes that…